January 24, 1968

On January 24, 1968 the North Koreans seized the Navy intel picket ship U.S.S. Pueblo (EGER-2). Its now believed that the Soviets convinced North Korea to seize a U.S. Navy spy ship in order to access cryptology equipment that was initially detailed by John Walker. So the capture of a commissioned U.S. Navy ship on the high seas, the death of one crewman, the torture of Commander Lloyd Bucher, and the imprisonment of the Pueblo's crew for 11 months, along with the devastating damage done to U.S. Navy cryptography can all be put at the feet of John Walker, his (now ex-) wife, son, brother, and his one-time student Jerry Whitworth.

I know when I was in the Navy there had been developed the Communications Security Material System (aka CMS), the very detailed methodology for handling encryption equipment and codes by U.S. Naval officers & sailors. We were never left alone with 'crypto' (called Two Person Integrity) and were in constant fear that one of us would screw the paper-trail up somewhere and end up in Leavenworth. (Thankfully I never did had a 'CMS Incident'.)

The torture and subsequent breaking of Command Lloyd Bucher by the North Koreans (be threatening to execute his crewman) also lead to a change in the wording of the Code of Conduct for Members of the Armed Forces of the United States. By Executive Order President Jimmy Carter (in November of 1977) amended the Code of Conduct (as put in place by Ike in 1955) to remove the clause ONLY in "I am to give only my name, rank, service number, and date of birth"....